Caledonian Craig

Okay can we look at it from the Irish viewpoint? Betsy (I believe it was) countered calls that Ireland were lucky with a late goal V Georgia by saying it was won with a great goal of great skill and merited a winner. Well I'd say Maloney's goal certainly falls into that category so we can make the same claim against any claim of luck on our behalf.

Eh? If you are awarding Ireland a goal when they hit the bar then you do the same for us so we would have won 2-1. I cannot see how Poland can be described as lucky although they rode it V Germany if you look at the stats. Germany had something like 35 shots on goals and Poland had five I think and scored twice. But that aside they haven't had any noticable luck. As for Ireland they have scored late goals but I wouldn't equate it to luck just that they have been in contention in their games until the end and by scoring have reaped the rewards.

Well in any case that is negated as we hit the bar just before we scored.

Just because players play for or are interesting big clubs means nothing. Look at Lewandowski - he has hardly sparkled for Poland has he? Same goes for us. In the past we had players playing for Liverpool when they ruled European football - players like Hansen and Nicol but they never sparkled for Scotland though they starred for Liverpool. McAllister was at Liverpool but was never destined to be a fans favourite for Scotland. The same could be said today. Charlie Adam has played for Liverpool and is a regular in Stoke's side (EPL team) but flopped for Scotland whereas Anya (yet to play in the EPL) has been a revelation for us. So you see where a player plays does not mean they are some sort of wonderful international player.

Well Steven Fletcher won't be in the side either and I would be surprised if there weren't one or two other changes as well in defence and maybe midfield.

I'd guess that the attendance may (at best) be around 40,000. Just an educated guess mind.

I currently live down in London and according to news reports a number of their ticket allocation has been returned unsold so don't expect a big following.

One thing I'd say is that our squad has more strength in depth than Ireland. We have had a number of players missing in recent games and our replacements have come in and excellend (Whittaker perhaps third choice right-back on Friday), Marshall in goal (two years ago was third choice behind McGregor and Gordon), Mulgrew (in for Morrison the other night and was man of the match) and Maloney filling in for the impressive Snodgrass has been a revelation. Ireland had two or three players out the other night and the replacements weren't up to it. Just an observation but I think an accurate one.

Sorry to all the Irish posters here as I now look at this group from purely a selfish point of view as this is now a dog eat dog situation. If we can dig out a win in Georgia and I am sure we can get maximum of six v Gibraltar and we'd have another nine points. In our remaining fixtures (Poland (H), Germany (H) and Ireland (A) even being ultra-pessimistic we will get at least a point from those three so means we would end on seventeen points. Now that would mean (at present) Ireland would need to get 11 points from their remaining fixtures. They will get three points against Gibraltar and three at home to Georgia I would have thought. Now that would leave them searching for five points from Poland (A and H), Germany (H) and Scotland (H). Going by what I saw on Friday at max they'll take three points from matches V Poland but see them losing to Germany at home and at best a draw against us at home leaving them a point short. That being the case we'd be guaranteed at least third. Of course if we have desires on a top two spot finish it may be more beneficial for us if both games Poland V Ireland end in draws and we beat Poland at Hampden.

I think we can expect lots of team changes due to injuries and Gordon perhaps wanting to take a look at other players. I can see us lining up like this (or something like it):- Craig Gordon Steve Whittaker Gordon Greer Russell Martin Andrew Robertson+ Scott Brown Charlie Mulgrew Darren Fletcher Shaun Maloney Ikechi Anya Steve Naismith

Yes I know. I did post up Rangers and Celtic and such-like and by that I did mean other clubs.

Sadly, some supporters (some of them armchair) cannot leave club football out of international football. The odd times I have been in pubs watching Scotland away matches it p!sses me right off hearing Celtic players being slated by Gers fans or vice versa and such-like. FFS they are all out on that pitch dripping sweat for Scotland who we surely all want to win so why oh why oh why cannot people let their club allegiances drop?

Yes it is a bit big in size but it is of very good quality (I know it should be for £5) - a good keepsake though.

Yes I praised him in a couple of threads. He was solid and comfortable on the ball and good passing from the back as well. He epitomised where I think we are stronger than Ireland. Squad depth is stronger for us. Whittaker was perhaps third choice (after Hutton and Bardsley) at right-back yet came in and did an excellent job. The same was the case in midfield with Morrison out his replacement (Mulgrew) was the man of the match in many people's eyes. In goal a year or two back McGregor came in to ably deputise for Gordon and now Marshall is doing the same. I thought Snodgrass would be a big miss but we have plugged that gap with the likes of Maloney's form. Ireland had a couple or three players out last night and their deputies weren't able to fill the gap quite as well.

Was it just where I was sitting but the noisiest our fans were were when booing McGeady (before we scored). I'd have preferred a more positive channelling of our support myself. Sure feel free to boo him but would have preferred more noise backing our own team. Also our support was a tad reactionary last night as in Ireland fans made some noise then we felt the need to respond instead of us getting the songs in first.

This has been discussed before. Rhodes iis not a type of player (I think) that Strachan feels ccomfortable using. He has an eye for goal but can he hold the ball up? No. Can he create chances for others? No. In short too one-dimensional for the way we are set up to play at the moment.

Who gives a stuff about England? Let's stick to worrying (or not now) about Scotland.

Fletcher offers far more in his link up play than Martin. Has created a lot for us of late. Hope May gets a chance on Tuesday ahead of Martin so we can see what he has to offer.

Found out? F'ing nonsense. Not his best game for us but still played his part. Whether you like it or not he is now an integral part of the side.

I was one of those to say give LeveLevein more time after Euro campaign but after one game of the following campaign that was enough for me and was when I was saying he should be sacked. I don't get the animosity towards people who just want someone to get given a chance. They weren't backing him out of support or love of him just that felt it was fair to give even him a chance. Whoopie Doo if you were right in calling for his head but I will bet you you have made mistakes in predictions etc in your time as well so quit the holier than though crap and enjoy the present.

How did people rate our players last night? Here is how I saw it:- David Marshall 7 (Solid handling and made a great save off McGeady. If his kicking had been better would have been 8) Steven Whittaker 7 (Solid performance. Calm in possession and built from the back well) Grant Hanley 6 (Looked shaky at times but still didn't let us down) Russell Martin 7 (Impressive. Becoming a real rock at the back for us) Andrew Robertson 8 (Assured in defence and dangerous on the attack. This boy will go far) Scott Brown 7 (One of his quieter games for us but still had a hand in the goal) Charlie Mulgrew 8 (Put in a great display and continues to impress for us) Shaun Maloney 9 (Superbly taken goal and all-round game could not be faulted) Ikechi Anya 7 (Good in patches but has had better games for us) Steven Naismith 8 (He has become a key plaplayer for us. Holds ball well, good dribbler and wins cheap free-kicks. Also great in the air for one so small) Steven Fletcher 7 (His link up play was great and brings others into the game. Needs a goal or two for us though) Subs:- Chris Martin 5 (Holds ball up well but lacks pace and missed a good chance) Darren Fletcher 5 (Not on long enough to make an impression)

To be honest most of Irish posters here are pretty well clued up and know their stuff. Just a few post guff but heck the same can be said of Scottish fans. The ones I spoke to prior to the match were brand new

Mulgrew had a cracker as did Robertson - a tight call. Can I give a special mention to a player much-lambasted on here of late? I though Steven Whittaker had a very good game. Also it is quite superb how Strachan is getting so much more out of Maloney. You can see he really rates him and is basically utilising him superbly like no other Scotland manager has been unable to do and that includes Smith and McLeish.

I agree with Goram. In my lifetime and I am certain (of all-time) this is the strongest we have ever been in the goalkeeping department. In Craig Gordon, Allan McGregor and David Marshall we have THREE international class goalkeepers. When have we ever been so blessed in such numbers?

Fair enough but lets be honest here as well. You are no mugs that is a given but we have beaten better sides than yourselves at home in recent years such as Ukraine, Germany, France and Croatia so there is no reason why we should be sitting on the pot crapping ourselves.